D.C. Firm Has Hosted Many Hamilton Students

Dima Kaigorodov '16 is one of a long list of students who have interned or are currently working with IOS Partners including Amy Marchesi ’13, Eric Boole ’13, Fletcher Wright, Jimmy Nguyen ’14, Emily Rivera ’16, Meg Alexander ’15 and Adi Fracchia ’14. Wright ’14 is now a permanent employee of the firm. Katie McGuire ’11 started as an intern in the summer of 2010 and subsequently joined the company and started the Washington intern program.

According to McGuire, "IOS focuses primarily on advising governments on public sector reform across a variety of sectors including agriculture, infrastructure, financial sector and trade/investment." Washington is home to one of the organization’s six offices; two others are in Eastern Europe, one is in South America, and one is in the Middle East.

Kaigorodov ’16, an economics major, is a funded intern through support from Drew Days '63. Friend and alumnus Wright made Kaigorodov aware of the opportunity.

Kaigorodov is doing meaningful work at the firm, providing research, recruiting consultants, approaching partner firms, devising proposal strategies and writing methodologies for expressions of interest (EOI). As he described it, an EOI “is a written submission to the client, some government, displaying the firm’s credentials, experts, and proposed courses of action.”

If the EOI is compelling enough, the firm will get shortlisted and is required to prepare a proposal, a kind of extended EOI “that elaborates on the consultancy team, methodology, and firm qualifications,” Kaigorodov explained. “These usually exceed 100 pages in length and are highly detailed,” he continued.

“As an economics major coming from a developing country,” Kaigorodov - who is from Moldova - stated. “I’m particularly excited to be part of an organization that helps impoverished nations fight poverty and promote sustainable economic growth.” He admitted that although strict deadlines and “an underlying moral pressure to produce quality work” make this type of job challenging, they also have “a tremendous impact on a country and foster a valuable work ethic.”

Kaigorodov has enjoyed seeing the economic development theories that he has studied being put into practice. “I have already been part of three successful projects,” he noted, “so it's awesome getting to see our work literally shaping the future development of a country.”

Inspired by the advancements made by the firm, Kaigorodov said, “although people, especially in developing countries, are used to blaming governments for not taking necessary actions,” everyday these governments are requesting “international expertise and consulting aid on various development project opportunities.”

Dima Kaigorodov is from Chisinau, Moldova, and is a graduate of the Westminster School.